Love in the Stars: Chapter 1
Rating: PG-13
Summary: This chapter is set in the summer before Harry's sixth year. In it, we discover how Harry's summer has progressed in the two weeks since he got out of school.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter. And, if I did, I would not be writing fan-fic. But, since I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter, excluding my copies of the books, I am writing fan-fic. So, sit-back and enjoy.
Chapter One of Love in the Stars
Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was at No. 4 Privet Drive for his final summer with his relatives, the Dursley's. To most people, it would seem that he would be depressed or maybe even excited about his final year at Hogwarts, but they would be wrong.
While laying in the littlest bedroom of the Dursley's home in Little Winging, Harry was contemplating his past, his future, and the possibility that he was loosing his edge (as well as his mind). Of course, he knew that he hadn't lost his mind yet, but he also knew that there was a high probability that he would never be able to function as a completely normal wizard. He actually considered it a minor miracle that he had managed to stay alive this long. I guess he could consider that a form of consolation, he was alive, even if he hadn't had a normal life.
Harry was beginning to become a little.....Well, for lack of a better term unglued. At the age of one, the darkest wizard in recent centuries had attempted to kill him. From this confrontation, Voldemort had lost his body, but Harry had lost his family. His next ten years weren't enjoyable due to the fact that he had had to live with his horrid aunt, uncle, and cousin. The first year of his Hogwarts career was marred by this very same wizard. His second year, he had to fight a memory of this horrid creature. His third year was one of revelations, and in his fourth year the wizard he'd been fighting his whole life had managed to create a body for himself by using Harry's blood! In his fifth year, his godfather passed away, and in his sixth year, he foiled his archenemy's plot to populate the world with clones of himself. And, as for what is going to happen in his next and final year....he didn't even want to think about it.
In spite of all these horrible things that had happened in his life, Harry was not actually a horrible person. There was a period during his fifth year where he acted like any normal person would. Well, any normal person wouldn't have had his problems, but the point is that he was actually coping with something like a relatively normal person would. But, after his actions led to the death of his godfather, Harry tried to learn to calm down and listen to others, especially Hermione.
Now, that led him to another subject in his internal monologue. Hermione. Such a sweet, simple name, but too bad that the person behind it wasn't. Hermione was sweet, but she also had a spine. She wasn't a pushover, and at times she could be a bossy little know-it-all. However, in spite of these "endearing" little quirks of her, or perhaps because of them, Harry viewed her as his "rock." She was the one person in his life he could count on no matter what, and he was one of the few people in this world that genuinely liked him as a person. (In truth, Harry's feelings for Hermione went deeper than he genuinely liked to delve. So, he has yet to realize that he truly loves her.)
Harry had decided that he needed to pursue the subject that was Hermione in more depth, but a sound finally penetrated into his mind. It was a soft noise, and he wasn't sure that he really heard it until he looked at his window. Standing outside of his bedroom window was Remus Lupin and Severus Snape. Harry walked over to the window and opened it. After all, he thought, this isn't the strangest thing that's ever happened to me.
He stuck his head out of the window, and addressed Professors Lupin and Snape with the only words that he could think for this situation. Admittedly, they were partially borrowed from Ron. "Bloody Hell."
Remus gave Harry a half-smile, "Well Harry, can we come in?"
Harry stepped away from the window slowly, as if he was afraid something bad was about to happen. It might have been because Snape was there, or it could have been that he was only three weeks into his summer vacation and he generally didn't hear from anyone (excluding Hermione and Ron) for at least another week. Harry then cleared his throat, "Erm...Professors, may I ask why I'm hearing from you this early into the summer?"
Snape gave the room a cursory glance before replying to the object of his dejection. "Well, Mr. Potter, it seems that many members of the Order, as well as unnamed persons, are concerned about your," he coughed slightly, "current living conditions." Snape began to walk around the room and began to inspect various objects which were haphazardly strewn about. He couldn't help but realize that the room was actually very sparse, and that no magical item of any kind was immediately visible. He began to speak again, after Lupin prodded him sharply, "Professor Lupin and I were sent to inspect your surroundings, and see that you are receiving adequate nutrition..."
Harry began to look around the room nervously. "Thank-you Professors, but I'm fine. There is no need for you to continue this inspection. I am quite sure that the Dursley's have no harm intended towards me." He stopped speaking when he noticed that neither Professor Lupin nor Professor Snape were paying any attention to what he was saying.
"Excuse us, Harry. I think Snape and I must talk about what to do about what we're seeing here." When Harry didn't respond to what Lupin was saying, Lupin attempted again. "Harry, would you mind stepping out into the hall for a moment?" The attempt seemed to drag Harry out of his stupor.
Harry could not honestly say what had made him freeze when Professor Lupin had began speaking to him. He calmly nodded his head and stepped out into the hall.
Remus Lupin, member of the Order of the Phoenix, reached into his pocket and brought out something that looked similar to a cell phone. He opened the object and said, " Lumanarum" this caused an image to appear on the object.
Severus Snape, renowned Potions Professor, stepped closer to Lupin, in order to see the image on the screen. What he saw shocked him completely.
First day of Summer Vacation
Vernon Dursley was enraged. How dare that little twerp's associates threaten him. He had done nothing wrong towards that boy, but now they had given him a reason to. This was the second time in as many years that they had threatened him. And he would be damned if he would let them do that without there being a reason for it.
He picked Harry up from King's Cross, and took him home, where he proceeded to drag his nephew indoors by the collar of his shirt and throw him into his room. "Now, boy. I want you to write to your "Order" people once a week. Tell them that nothing is wrong, and that you don't want to see any of them for the rest of the summer!" Vernon grinned maniacally and locked the door.
back to present
The screen revealed a world of information to Snape. Snape now held the information that he had been wrong about Harry. Harry was not the spoiled child that he thought he was. He was a boy that had been locked in a room for almost three entire weeks, allowed out only to use the restroom. What shocked Snape the most was the fact that the horrible, purple-faced man only allowed Potter a meager amount of food. It was almost too little to sustain a rodent. What surprised him the most was that Potter's cousin showed some compassion. He would sneak food up to the boy, and slide other things under the door for him.
Lupin was enraged. How dare Vernon Dursley do this to his best friend's child! Harry had never done anything to that man, and now Harry was being abused because of threats that had been made by the order. Lupin and Snape looked at each other at the same moment. Lupin managed to growl out, "We're taking him with us, Now!"
All Snape could do was nod his head in agreement. He had never heard Lupin enraged before, and it was a shocking experience. Snape called Potter back into the room.
Lupin looked at Harry, "Harry," he began to speak softly, "if you had told anyone about the conditions in which you were living....I would have gotten you out of here as soon as possible." His voice was holding back rage, "However, because you did not tell anyone, I am taking you with me right now." Lupin then walked over to the window and exited the room quietly.
Snape looked up at Potter, and said, "Get your things." He slowly stalked towards the window. He then stopped and turned to look at Harry his gaze piercing him to the core. One word was issued from his lips, "Now!" He too then exited the window.
Harry slowly leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. He had no idea how they had figured it out. He had not told anyone what his uncle had done, and he had fully expected to be ignored until his birthday. But, he felt that someone had intervened for him. 'Maybe,' he thought to himself, 'my parents interfered.' But, he felt, that would be almost, if not completely, impossible. 'Oh well, at least I'm getting out of here.' He stood up quickly, and grabbed his things before they could leave without him
